Plan for the week

This week I have a plan. I am going to work the pups everyday in hopes of making some progress. In the past couple of months the weather has not been good as a result the pups are only getting worked once a week or sometimes less. In order to make some sort of progress you need to work them more often. As I am working with these two I find my self thinking about what their mother was like at this age. Unfortunately I didn't have a blog or a video camera than and a persons memory of their favourite dog can be somewhat distorted when they think back. This week will be the pups electronic diary of sorts. I will do updates every couple of days. I also wanted to mention that the pups turn 11 months old tomorrow. These two could not be more different if they tried. Bracken is pushy and independent. Craig is thoughtful and really wants to be a team player. Bracken has nice square flanks and comes forward like a freight train. I am sure she is going to be a result of my future broken leg. Craig has a nice natural pace and really likes to slice his flanks. Two months ago if you asked me which pup you would keep if you had to chose right now. I would have said Bracken. Today I would say Craig. In two more months it may be the other way around or it might be really hard to choose.
Bracken

If you look closely there are not good thoughts in these eyes. Sundays workout did not go well for Bracken she would not lie down or stop at balance. When she did stop at balance she came forward like gang busters. After wearing her down I did get a few good stops from her and got her to settle on balance and come forward at a reasonable pace. She is very much like her mom when she get excited all she wants to do is run circles around the sheep. today was a much better work for Bracken she stopped when I asked 90% of the time. Also settled in to the fetch much nicer. There were times when she maybe had no feet on the ground but she fixed it when I asked her to. She never once softens her eyes so I can tell I have gotten through to her. She always has this hard steely glare like in the picture above. One good thing about Bracken is she in not a gripper. She will take some cheap shots but mostly just puppy stuff. just as I was think she had made some improvements today I was walking off with her and she decided to take off after the sheep and chase them all over the arena. I can not once let my guard down or she takes advantage of it.

Craig
I call Craig my golden retriever. He is always just happy to get alive. he plays by himself in his run. He loves to be with me. He does have a crazy side. He is in a run all by himself up by the house because when he is in the kennel with the other dogs he gets very excited and likes to bark and chew through walls. It took him a couple of times on sheep to figure out that this was something he actually wanted to do. I had a hard time getting him the balance he just wanted to trot around the sheep. What a difference a couple of months makes. He is easy to work. Well OK not true but easier than Bracken. He doesn't upset his sheep. He has a nice natural pace and seems to think things through better. However each time I work him he gets keener and keener. He is now coming forward quite strong. The big thing I am working on with Craig is his flanks. He does not have square flanks. In fact he enjoys slicing his flanks. That's the break down on the pups. They are certainly giving me a run for my money. After I get in from working them I am exhausted. I hope this will get me into better shape as well. The weather is set to be well above zero all week. We can already see the grass in many spots. Very exciting but also sad because I know there is still more winter to come as it is just January.